Hostile Crowd Confronts Police At Deadly Shooting Scene In Jamaica Plain
JAMAICA PLAIN (CBS) – Boston Police Commissioner William Gross says his officers were confronted by a hostile crowd while investigating a deadly shooting in Jamaica Plain late Thursday night.
Police first were called to the Heath Street housing development around 10 p.m. and officers found a man with a gun. They say he dropped the weapon and took off, but officers caught him. The man was later identified as Clifford Jones, 43, of Randolph.
Then, police found two men in their 20's with gunshot wounds. One died at the hospital and the other has non-life threatening injuries.
"The hostilities were so bad that we had to deploy our emergency deployment teams from throughout the city to come and render assistance to the responding officers that were just trying to help the victims of a crime," Gross told reporters early Friday morning.
As police were trying to get help for those two men, they say a second suspect took off. That suspect was later identified as Rushon Hemingway, 23, of Springfield.
"While the officers were chasing the second armed gunman, one of the individuals tried to engage the officer by tripping him and we locked him up," Gross said. "We come here to help people and this is how we're met? So, with that being said, as the district attorney stated, we've seen enough violence."
The man was later identified as Tyron Blair-Battiste, 37, of Jamaica Plain.
Four guns were recovered by police.
Police said that as they attempted to secure the crime scene, they were confronted by an irate man later identified as Uhmari Bufford, 25, of Jamaica Plain. He allegedly got out of a car he was driving and began to yell at officers, challenging them to fight him while demanding access to the crime scene. Police eventually arrested him when he refused to leave.
Jones will be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and resisting arrest, among other charges. Hemingway will be charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and resisting arrest. Blair-Battiste will be charged with interfering with a police officer and disorderly conduct. Bufford will be charged with interfering with a police officer and disturbing the peace.
All four suspects will be arraigned in Roxbury District Court.
The man who was killed has not been identified yet. Suffolk District Attorney Rachael Rollins said this is the fourth homicide in the city in the last six days.
Lakeisha Merritt, who lives in the area, said she heard the commotion. "I just heard a lot of yelling and screaming going on," she said. "I feel sorry for for their families. I feel sorry for them, whoever got shot and killed."
Merritt said she hasn't felt safe living in this neighborhood for a while. "I just gotta get out. It's crazy around here," she said.
